Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

utgard14 Gangster's widow (Bette Davis), trying to live her life out of her notorious husband's shadow, finds herself in more man trouble. She marries playboy Henry Fonda but his father breaks that up right away. She winds up having Fonda's baby without him knowing. Her married boss, Ian Hunter, is in love with her so he agrees to take care of her and her baby. But then he dies. There's more to it than all of this but as you can see it's a kitchen sink soaper for sure. I don't normally like these types of movies enough to rate them more than 5. But Bette's acting is good enough to bump it up. Fonda is miscast. He tries hard but the part just doesn't fit him. Ian Hunter is good, as are Donald Crisp and Anita Louise. Sidney Toler of Charlie Chan fame plays a detective. If you're a Bette fan, you'll obviously want to check this out.

jeaninedavenport I was delighted to find another Bette Davis movie that I hadn't seen. I loved the goodness of the women in the story. I thought the acting was excellent. The movie highlighted the dilemmas women can face when they operate with genuine love and self-sacrifice as a motive. I noticed that the two young wives looked remarkably alike, and I wondered if it were by design.I get that the story might be a bit of a stretch, but truth is no stranger than fiction, and the story was plausible for me. I would watch this movie again in time. I enjoyed seeing such a young Bette Davis and Henry Fonda. One thing I especially enjoyed about the movie is that it was operating in the social conscience of the time.

bkoganbing It's a good thing that the following year from That Certain Woman, Bette Davis and Henry Fonda got to make Jezebel and acquit themselves well in a drama of substance. It certainly showed that as a team they could do better than That Certain Woman and have it be the only film they would be judged on as a screen team.For such a noble thing Bette's been around the track quite a bit and gets a few more turns before the film ends. As a teen she marries a notorious hoodlum who is killed in a gun battle and she's trying to live it down. She's working under an assumed name as a secretary to wealthy attorney Ian Hunter. When exposed Hunter doesn't care because he's in a rather loveless marriage to the rather frigid Katharine Alexander.Bette likes him OK, but her heart is set on playboy Henry Fonda. They do get married, but Fonda's father Donald Crisp comes running after his son and gets the marriage annulled. Of course he can't annul what Fonda left to remember him by. Bette doesn't tell him about their kid and later Fonda marries socialite Anita Louise who is later paralyzed from a car crash. If you're a devotee of soap operas the plot can take any number of directions from here and I won't say.If That Certain Woman were made today it would be debuting on the Lifetime Channel. From what I've just described there's enough material here for a dozen soaps. One common thing I noticed in this film. The women are all noble and self sacrificing, especially Anita Louise. The men however are all dogs, between the lusting in his heart Hunter, the weakling Fonda, the tyrannical Crisp, even the reporter who tries to blackmail Davis, Hugh O'Connell. Now that's an article of faith to get on the Lifetime Channel.Bette and Hank do their best with it all, but there are enough tears to fill Lake Erie in this film and suds enough to wash the uniforms at the Great Lakes Naval Training station.

MartinHafer This is exactly the sort of movie that must have infuriated Bette Davis. After all, her acting was stupendous--with an incredible emotional range and fantastic acting--it was just so realistic she carried the film all by herself. AND, despite all her great acting, the film was a sappy, soggy, soapy mess! It's because the writing, to put it charitably, stunk! The film was stylistically dated when it appeared in 1937--and was just way too melodramatic and soap-opera-like.Bette is a sweet lady who was unfortunately married at a very young age to a gangster. When the movie began, the thug had been dead for years and Bette had tried very hard to put this past behind her and create a whole new life for herself. You could tell that despite this early experience, she was a real decent lady. So decent that her boss (Ian Hunter) and a rich immature brat (Henry Fonda) fell for her.Well, she eventually elopes with rich-guy Fonda, but on their wedding night Fonda's overbearing father Donald Crisp confronts them and demands they have the marriage annulled. Bette could see that she was about to lose Fonda and so she makes a hasty retreat. Fonda NEVER tries to follow her or get her back.Several years pass. Bette now has a child that was conceived during their honeymoon (that only lasted a few hours--barely enough time to even hope to conceive a child!) and Fonda has remarried to some rich society lady. Bette doesn't bother trying to get in touch with Fonda because she logically reasons that if he didn't return for her, it wasn't worth telling him about the kid and getting him to return.Now at this point, the movie has been pretty good and not too sappy. Unfortunately, this was a synopsis of only the first half of the film. Later, Ian Hunter dies and Bette is accused of causing this death or having an affair with him, Fonda FINALLY returns and his father tries to steal the baby, and you find out Fonda's wife is in a wheel chair and Bette decides to give this other woman the baby?!?!?!?!?!?!? This didn't make any sense, but considering there were MANY more plot elements that all took place in the last half of the film, it's not worth trying to figure any of this out! Giving away the baby when she loved it? Hmmm. This sounds highly reminiscent of STELLA DALLAS and countless other soapy films. Bette Davis playing this super-martyr isn't very attractive or interesting.THEN, after giving up the baby, she finds out some time later that Fonda's wife has died (that was nice of her) and she and Henry and the baby are all reunited for a sappy,....I mean "happy" ending.The movie was lousy but still gets a 5 for Miss Davis' wonderful performance and that's about all. Everyone else, frankly, stunk--including milquetoast Fonda in his most forgettable role. And, the writers should be ashamed of themselves.This film is ONLY for Bette Davis fans--others will no doubt be put off by the plot.